Truck champion goes BTCC racing

BTC Racing has announced today that 2007 Delphi British Truck Racing Champion Stuart Oliver will join its driver line-up in the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Oliver, who has won seven British titles in all and was European champion in 2004, will compete in the BTCC in a move described by the team as ‘the best thing to happen to BTC in its short history’.

“Stuart’s decision to join our young team speaks volumes for the effort the whole team put in last year,” team boss Bert Taylor said. “It just goes to show that all our hard work has finally paid off and that the pedigree of our drivers should deliver the results that we as a team are striving to achieve.

“The whole team is really excited about this year and can’t wait for the season to begin.”

Team manager Colin Hewett was also quick to welcome the experienced racer into the team.

“In Stuart we have a driver who has not only raced with the best but has become a driver at the very top of his sport,” he said. “We believe that Stuart will become a very important part of our team not only in the racing department but also in the development part of our programme.

“He is looking forward to the development of non-works cars and will use the experience he has from his truck racing to assist the team.”

Racing the two-litre Lexus IS200 will be a world away from the MAN TG-A weighing more than five tons and developing over 1000hp that he raced last year, but Oliver said he was ready for the challenge. Oliver will continue to race in the 2008 Truck Championship alongside his time at BTC Racing.

“It is a great opportunity to be involved in the team that has great potential going forward in the BTCC,” he said. “I am looking forward to working alongside Chris and the established team and hope that my experience in the British and European Truck Racing Championships will bring some development opportunities for the team.”

Oliver will line up alongside Chris Stockon, who previously confirmed that he would return for a second full-season at the wheel of the car, which has undergone plenty of work over the off-season at the team seeks to improve reliability ahead of the new campaign.

“The signing of a driver with the racing experience of Stuart Oliver is very exciting news and I am really looking forward to partnering him in the team and seeing what we can achieve this year,” he said. “This signing, along with the development we have done on the cars over the winter mean that it is going be a very exciting year for us!”